Chapter 4

“Dear, breakfast is ready—oh, where are you going?” Mommy Esther opened the door wider when she saw her doing her makeup.

“I’m meeting someone,” she replied nonchalantly as she put on some blush-on on her cheeks.

“And who is this someone?” There was something in her mother’s voice. Perhaps she was expecting that she was going on a date with some guy she met down the road. Mommy Esther walked inside and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at her through the mirror.

Nova rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh before turning in her mom’s direction. With lips pressed together, she stared at her mom. And she knew that Mommy Esther got what she meant by that. Her mom grimaced and shook her head afterward.

“Mom, not today. I’m in a good mood.” She finished her everyday-makeup-look.

“Then tell me who—”

“Atty. Recinto.”

“Oh…I see.” Mommy Esther stood up and sauntered towards her. She put her hands on her shoulders and met her gaze through the mirror. “So, you’re now ready to claim the inheritance that Ate Marilyn left you?”

Nova turned to face her mother. She already told her parents that she needed millions to buy the land so that they do not need to leave the place. She told them that her last resort was claiming the inheritance. Her parents both agreed because that was the only way to solve her problem.

“Yes. I phoned him last night, and he agreed to see me today.” She checked her wristwatch. “I have to go, Mom. I don’t want to be late.” She kissed her mom on the cheek and snatched her purse above the vanity table.

“Drive safely. Call me when you got there,” said Mommy Esther as she walked her down the staircase.

“Hm…” She waved at her mom before finally exiting the house.

***

Her appointment with her aunt’s lawyer was by ten in the morning, but she arrived an hour early. It was not out of excitement, but she used to be that punctual. She believes that it was okay to wait for others to come than to wait for her.

The law firm where Atty. Recinto was one of its associates, was not that big. With three private offices that occupied the floor area, the lobby where they received guests and clients seemed small for four people, including the woman at the reception desk.

“Atty. Recinto is on his way,” the woman, whom she later found out a paralegal, said as she put down a cup of coffee on the table in front of her. “I told him that you’re already here.”

“Oh…I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry. It’s at his utmost convenience that he could talk to you earlier.” The woman smiled and exited the lobby, perhaps to return the tray to the pantry.

Nova picked up the cup of coffee and was about to take the first sip when the door opened, and a man with a slender figure came in. He was wearing a glamorous navy-blue suit and thick eyeglasses. Her mouth dropped open as she stared at the man who just arrived at the law firm. He has this aura that made her want to leave her seat, and—she abruptly shook her head to erase the train of thoughts that were about to enter her mind.

“Atty. Recinto, good morning,” the woman, who came back to her post, greeted.

So, he was Atty. Recinto…She thought he was someone who looks old, but he seemed like someone in his mid-thirties. Nova put down her coffee and rose from her seat.

“Hi,” she greeted with a smile.

“You must be Nova Leigh Velasco,” he said, matching her smile.

“Yes.” She put her hands behind her.

“Let’s talk inside my office.” He led the way.

“Have a seat, Ms. Nova.” Atty. Recinto pointed at the visitor’s chair in front of his medium-size mahogany table. Its top was full of files, which was natural to his profession.

Nova wondered which among those folders contains her aunt’s last will, or maybe he was hiding it somewhere safe.

She cleared her throat afterward.

“I came here for my aunt’s will, Attorney.” Nova’s hands clenched against her purse on her lap. “I’m ready now to claim the inheritance that she left me.”

“What took you so long?” He left his seat and strode towards a digitally-locked-file cabinet. His fingers keyed in the code. “Where is it? Oh, here.”

Her heart hammered hard against her chest when Atty. Recinto went back to his table with a brown envelope in one hand. Her aunt’s last will—her only hope. He opened the envelope in front of her and pulled out two or three sheets of paper.

“Are you ready?” he asked and looked at her intently.

Nova swallowed hard. She was ready since yesterday.

“Yeah.” She nodded.

Atty. Recinto started reading Auntie Marilyn’s last will. She was beyond shock that her aunt had many properties, and the sum of money she saved was no joke. She knew her aunt was thrifty from the very start, but she did not know she could leave everything to her alone.

“Are you sure it’s my aunt’s last will?” she interrupted his reading.

“Yes.” Atty. Recinto raised his head and looked at her with disbelief. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know how Ms. Marilyn acquired all this wealth?”

Nova’s lips pressed together. She did not know. No one in their family knows how much wealth she had left. All they knew is that her aunt works in Italy as a domestic helper. Because she has no husband and children, she decided to sponsor a few scholars.

“Well…I don’t know why she didn’t tell her family about this.” Atty. Recinto adjusted his glasses. “Ms. Marilyn inherited some of the properties from her late employers. And there was this rich old man that she married who died on their first night.”

“W-what?”

Was he kidding her? Was she dreaming? It sounded like a novel plot that she must write.

“You heard it right, Ms. Nova. And now they will be yours if you comply to this clause—”

“Wait. What? A clause?” she cut him off.

“Yes, the will has this special clause. It says here that you can only claim the inheritance if you’re married on or before your thirtieth birthday. If not, all the properties will be liquidated and will be donated to—”

“You gotta be kidding me!” Nova slammed her hand on a folder. “You made it up, don’t you?”

Atty. Recinto looked at her with furrowed brows. “Pardon?”

“You made that clause so that I won’t be able to—”

“Watch your mouth, lady. I can sue you for that.” He adjusted his tie. Irritation flashed in his eyes.

“This is ridiculous!” She rose and paced back and forth. “My aunt must be out of her mind when she made her will! She loves me so much. There’s no way she will make it hard for me.”

Atty. Recinto shrugged.

Nova put her hands to her sides and shook her head.

“Auntie Marilyn, why? Why did you do this to me?” She wanted to cry but tried hard to suppress her tears. There was no way she would let anyone see how frustrated she was. She turned her gaze back to Atty. Recinto afterward. “Is that it? All I have to do is get married, and I can claim it?”

“Yes.”

“Where the hell will I get a husband?”

“You’re single?”

Nova breathed exasperatedly. “Yeah. How about you?”

He raised a finger with a ring wrapped around it.

“Oh, good for you.” She grabbed her purse. “I’ll get back to you. I’ll get that inheritance no matter what!”

Groaning, Nova stormed out of his office.

Should she look for a psychic first and plead to her dead aunt to talk to her lawyer and revise her will?

“Why? Why is this happening when I desperately need that money?” she exclaimed as soon as she got inside her car.